kvity

In photos, the Taj usually looks rather cheesy. It's amazing in person. I had to go to the dentist in Agra. It turned out to be a fairly pleasant experience, cost me only 100 rupees, plus 100 rupees at the chemist shop, and relieved the problem. ... read more

After leaving Bandhavgahr, we drove to the airport Khajuraho. We managed to leave early enough to have a little while to visit the temples. There are 25 temples built over about a 1000 year span of time, and they were "lost" for 1100 years until they were rediscovered (as I recall) by the British building the railroad. The temples celebrate the creation aspect Hinduism. Photos forthcoming... ... read more

Last week, after leaving Chitvan Suites at Pench Nat'l Park (a fantastic hotel), we drove to Bandhav Villas at Bandhavgarh Nat'l Park. The drive... Driver has black hair, partially died orange. His style is to excellerate as much as possible whenever possible, to lurch to a halt when necessary, and to whirl within milimeters of cars, trucks, bikers, adult pedestrians, children, cows, dogs, goats and squirrels. Common refrains: "Ahh," "Ugg," "Oh my god," "Did you hit it?" and "That's too close. Please don't do that again." The drive between the parks took over 8 hours, when we were expecting 5, in part due to the "shortcut." The shortcut took us over about 30 k on a path that had not been repaired since the rainy season, and involved driving the early-1990s style van through at least ... read more

The "Red Fort" is actually a fortified castle, which was constructed by a series of Mughal kings, including the designer of the Taj Mahal, Shah Jahan. Maharaja Shah Jahan was ultimately placed under house arrest in the fort by his son, Aurangzeb, after Aurangzeb executed his brother and seized power. The fort includes a moat, drawbridge, and the places for archers to launch attacks. The Indian military still uses much of the fort today.... read more

Day 9: Oct. 11 -- Kahna Nat'l Park, Chitvan Lodge My last entry was very brief because I was whisked away to dinner. The Lodge has been over the top. We have a wake up call at 5 am, and are served tea and coffee as requested. By 5:30, we load into a jeep to go for a nature drive. Mid-morning, in the park, we have breakfast, consisting of hard-boiled eggs, paneer on white bread sandwiches, tea, coffee, crackers, English biscuits/cookies, and fruit. We drive in the park looking at birds, flowers, spiderwebs, barasinghr (yes, I think I spelled it right), spotted deer, wild boars, guar, etc. We are always looking for the tiger. Where the forest is dense, Tiger walks on the road. Sometimes, we see tiger pug marks (footprints) in the sand in the ... read more

Oct. 9, 2008 (Laura's 40th birthday) -- Presently Kahna Nat'l Park; came today from Indira _____ Pench Nat'l Park The lodge we are at is fantastic. Very beautiful. I just finished a cooking lesson. The chef showed me sauces for vegetables and bread today. Tomorrow, dessert and meats. They will give me the recipes before I leave. Yesterday, in Pench, we saw Tiger! She was beautiful, napping under a lantana vine. We took the jeep nearby and then road an elephant into the vine. Tigers can also be sighted by chance on or near the road, but when it is sighted by this method, it is called "Tiger Show." The guide asks, "Do you want to see Tiger Show?" We thought it was some hoaky tourist thing... but we said yes. Glad we did! This ... read more

Oct. 7, 2:40 a.m. We depart for Nagpur this morning. Our flight is at 7:05, but we leave the hotel at 4:30 because of traffic. Yesterday, we toured. The photos capture the experience better than I can, with the exception of dinner (because I didn't photograph it)-- we ate in the hotel's Chinese restaurant. I ordered the capsicum because Í had never tried it, and none of us knew what it was. We all liked it. Turns out, it's bell pepper. We also had avocado cheese cake for dessert. Frank and I liked it; Laura thought it had an aftertaste, Susan thought it was not enough like the cheesecake we're used to. We have noticed that the men in India are very handsome. Besides the obvious coloring differences, they're smaller and less macho than many Western ... read more